By Paul Goble, Asia Times, 21
April 1999. Several events in the southern Caucasus last
week may lead to fundamental changes in power
relationships not only there but across a much larger
portion of the world as well. And because of that, some of
the players both within the region and beyond appear to be
positioning themselves to respond with new moves.

By George Monbiot, Guardian (London),
Thursday 15 February 2001. During the 1999 Balkans war,
some of the critics of Nato's intervention alleged
that the western powers were seeking to secure a passage
for oil from the Caspian sea. The Trans-Balkan pipeline,
due for approval at the end of next month, is to secure a
passage for oil from the Caspian sea.

DAWN, Wednesday 25 July
2001. Iran and Azerbaijan refused to back down after an
Iranian warship threatened an Azeri oil research vessel in
disputed waters. This casts a shadow over the
multi-billion-dollar development of the Caspian Sea's
oil reserves with the participation of Western
companies.

Tehran Times, 16 May
2002. President Khatami said that the Islamic Republic of
Iran is against any kind of unilateral and inflammatory
measure in the Caspian Sea. Iran is willing to continue
logical negotiations to determine the legal regime of the
Caspian Sea fairly so that all the Caspian littoral states
would be fairly provided with Caspian resources.

By Jared Israel, The Emperor's
Clothes, 22 June 2002. The Anglo-US-German assault
on Afghanistan was not for oil. The United States'
main pursuit in Afghanistan is part of a geo-strategic
concept. The U.S. strategy of promoting Turkey as a
regional Imperial proxy force, strengthening its relations
with Georgia and Azerbaijan with the goal of weakening
Russian influence.

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, Akaveh1@aol.com,
Asia Times, 31 October 2002. Iran's
boundaries in the Caspian Sea is a hotly contested
question that has been the subject of protracted
negotiation since 1992, when officials of the Caspian
littoral states—Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and
Turkmenistan—gathered in Tehran for the first time to
tackle the outstanding issues of the so-called Caspian
legal regime.